This short novel (shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize) is set in a small Irish town suffering economic depression where the Catholic Church is very much in charge. It is written in the third-person past tense but seen through the eyes of the hero-protagonist, Billy Furlong, the owner of a fuel merchants and father of five girls. He's a nice bloke in a happy marriage, a kind boss with a loyal workforce, and in the run-up to Christmas he delivers coal and logs around the town, extending credit where needed, and giving a little fuel to those who can't afford any. When he is asked about his employment of foreigners, he replies "Hasn't everyone to be born somewhere" and this is not followed by a question mark (Ch 5).
But he discovers that the local convent is mistreating the girls who, having had a baby out of wedlock, and having been 'rescued' by the nuns, are being forced to work for their board and lodgings. Billy himself is illegitimate but was fortunate enough to be brought up in the local big house where his mum was a servant, treated almost as one of the family, so the plight of these unmarried mothers touches him. He is warned not to get involved by his wife, who believes that charity should begin at home, and by the local villages, who point out the power of the church in their small society. Christmas approaches and Billy's conscience struggles with his self-interest.
The book is beautifully told in exquisite prose. At times, there is the feeling that you are in a modern myth, as you encounter characters like the old man slashing thistles at the side of the road who answers Billy's "Would you mind telling me where this road will take me?" with "This road will take you wherever you want to go, son." (Ch 4) A sense of foreboding, a growing sense of menace, creeps up on the reader. I was torn between wanting to savour the moment and wanting to rush to the end to find out what would happen.
A miniature masterpiece.
Selected quotes:
- "Keep the enemy close, the bad dog with you and the good dog will not bite." (Ch 7)
- "The snow was building so that the footprints of people who had gone before and after him in both directions stood out plainly and not so plainly, too, on the footpath." (Ch 7)
- "Was there any point in being alive without helping one another?" (Ch 7)
April 2023; 111 pages
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